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| Bio-dynamic gardens at WALA |
Having
heard and read so much about the amazing Bio-dynamically cultivated gardens, where the WALA factory is situated, in Eckwälden,
near Stuttgart, I have long wanted to visit them, and that was made possible
this May, when I went with eight other Estheticians and our trainer, Elaine Robinson from Wala UK, to the 2015 Wala Open House
for Estheticians and retailers. There were visitors from other countries there,
as well, from Denmark, Yugoslavia and some other Eastern European countries, so
the lectures were given in English, although I did have some opportunities to
practice my schoolgirl Deutsch.
The theory
part took place in the Maja Mewes Saal, the hall of the original building. All
of the architecture had a particular look, both inside and out, partly because
of the anthroposophical style of poured concrete, organic forms and cut off
corners, but also the roofs, which were often planted or made of copper.
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| The grave of Elisabeth Sigmund |
The
Maja Mewes Hall is just opposite the small, beautifully tended, graveyard where
Elisabeth Sigmund and Dr Rudolf Hauschka are buried, alongside many others who
were part of the Anthroposophical medical movement in its earlier years.
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| Mucilaginous Marshmallow roots. Don't try this at home! |
We were
given talks on many aspects of Wala and the Dr Hauschka products, from CSR
projects overseas, to the labelling of natural cosmetics and the sourcing of
high quality raw materials, because, although over 100 different plants are
grown at Wala, not everything would flourish on German soil, even if it is
Bio-Dynamic! Plant signatures, with particular emphasis on Anthyllis, a key
note ingredient of much of the Dr Hauschka skin care was another fascinating
subject, as was the talk given by Elisabeth Sigmund’s biographer. We were also given hands-on experience of processing plants, when we had roots of marshmallow to chop and chew and could experience at first hand just how mucilaginous it is!
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| Buy your own raw milk at WALA |
Although we
covered many subjects in two days, as well as visiting the gardens and the
Bio-dynamic farm - where they even had a machine dispensing raw BD milk! - there still
seemed to be time for Wala to feed us sumptuously throughout; there were two
wonderfully delicious and healthy lunches at the Evangelische Kirche down the
road, as well as a picturesque evening meal at the
peak of the Hohenstaufen mountain, which we later descended, bearing flaming
torches through the moonlit woods!
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| Photo by the beautiful and talented Debra Donnelly, who never forgot her camera! |
The highlight
of the trip had to be the gardens, which are still worked by hand, according to
the phases of the moon and treated with BD preparations as well as the all-important
dung from the cows at the Sonnenhof farm which forms part of the estate; this
is crucial in BD farming as it is a closed system and so no imported fertiliser
is permitted.
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| Tatjana Pregler demo |
On the last
day we were treated to a viewing of the new Night Serum film, which can also be
seen here: http://bit.ly/1AzMGrD and a practical demonstration from the
lovely Tatjana Pregler, Wala’s in-house Esthetician or Naturkosmetikerin, which
we all enjoyed. We were given a goodie bag which contained the new Night Serum,
as well as a copy of the book about Elisabeth Sigmund, which we had heard so much about earlier in the week, published in memory of what would
have been her 100th year; she died in 2013, still wearing her
favourite lipstick - 07 - to the end.
It was a hectic couple of
days, catching up with other Estheticians, meeting some I didn’t know previously, as well
as chatting to the lovely Wala employees who joined us and all spoke impeccable
English (I must brush up my German!), but I learned so much, and would love to
do it again. I’m now hoping that an international Esthetician gathering might
be arranged at some point soon!
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| With my fellow estheticians at the Seminaris hotel WALA trip 2015 |
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